What is faith? (Hebrews 11:1)

This sermon was preached on 11/8/2013

A question worth asking in this day of superstars is, ‘Do you have a list of heroes?’ Usually superstars are given that status because they are good at something, be it sport or acting or politics. It is important for us to have those we admire, whose lives speak to us. In Hebrews 11, which we are beginning to study now, we have the author’s list of heroes, and they all have something in which they excelled, and that is they were noted for their faith.

In verse 1, the author introduces his section on the heroes of the faith by giving a definition of faith. He says that faith involves two features: it anticipates the future and it accepts the reality of the invisible world. In putting this at the beginning of his account, he is saying that he wants his readers to remember these two details about faith as they read of what happened in the lives of his examples of faith whom he will go on to mention.

In the chapter, we see that faith was exercised in a wide variety of situations, by a diversity of types of people, with a broad range of consequences. Some exercised faith while they lived in tents, others exercised faith while they lived in palaces. Some of those who had faith were highly educated and very wealthy; others were untaught and lived in obscurity. Some received great deliverances as a consequence of their faith; others had to endure great sufferings and opposition because they believed in God.

Each of the names that he includes in his list had defects, apart from one person. The solitary hero is Jesus Christ, whom the writer says lived a perfect life of faith. His inclusion makes this list unique because there is no other list that contains such a person. Each person in a list of football superstars has lost many games, each sprinter in a list of athletic heroes has lost races, and each politician in the list of great leaders has made mistakes. But Jesus Christ has no flaws.

I recall reading about a preacher who said that when he was young he admired a certain sportsman and put pictures of him on his bedroom wall. Eventually he had the opportunity to know his hero quite well, and discovered that the more he knew about him the smaller he became because he has so many flaws. The preacher then told how he became a believer in Jesus and had been so for thirty-five years. During these years he had come to know Jesus, and he said that the nearer he came to Jesus and knew him better, the bigger he became. Jesus should be our Hero.

This goes for those of us who are disappointed by what we discover in those we admire, whether in the world or in the church. Every year politicians and sportspersons give us reasons for disappointment when we discover what they are really like. And we have been disappointed with Christian leaders whom we looked up to. But Jesus never disappoints us.

While the differences in the lives of the people in this list have their value, they are not what is important about them as far as the author’s purpose is concerned. Instead we are to look for how these people looked to the future and also took into account the invisible world in all that they did. Sometimes we tend to focus on the consequences of faith and use them to judge the level of faith. For example, we rightly commend the faith of George Muller as he provided for all the children in his orphanages. Yet, was his faith any greater than a Christian who is called to a lifetime of suffering for Christ, perhaps imprisoned away from his family and friends for many years? To put it in the context of Hebrews 11, was Abraham’s faith greater than Abel’s faith? The chapter would not indicate it was, and I think that is because the faith of each man contained these two features of looking to the future and of beholding continually the invisible world.

These two features show us that the only faith that is valid is faith in God. Faith, in itself, is only an opinion or an attitude. It may be strong or weak. In a sense, it does not matter whether it is strong or weak as far as security is concerned. For example, it makes no difference, regarding getting safely to the other side, whether a person crossing a bridge has a strong or a weak faith. It makes a difference to his enjoyment of the crossing if is faith is strong, but not to his safety. Strong faith does not make him more secure and weak faith does not make him less secure. What is important is the security of the object of his faith, in this example the bridge.

Faith here is concerned about promises related to the future. It is obvious that the only Person who can speak authoritatively about the future is God because he is the only one who knows what will happen and who controls what will happen. Therefore, faith is based on what God has said about the future in his Word.

Similarly, faith is convinced about the invisible world, the things not seen. The only Person that can speak about that world is someone who lives there and for us to know about it we need that Person to come into our visible world to tell us about the invisible world. We know who that Person is: Jesus, the Son of God.

One reason why this chapter is included in the Book of Hebrews is that there were many who were in danger of possessing a temporary faith. The book was written to challenge some readers who were contemplating abandoning Christianity and returning to Judaism and to encourage others to remain true to the faith. Jesus also referred to temporary faith in the parable of the sower. In that parable, he mentions four kinds of response to the gospel. The first is rejection at the time of hearing it, the second is rejection caused by persecution, the third is rejection caused by problems, whereas the fourth is responsive to the instructions of Christ. Therefore it is important for us to see whether or not our faith is genuine.

For these reasons, it is important for us to grasp what the author says about faith.

1. Faith enables us to see the future

I suppose we could say that faith is like a telescope or like binoculars. We can imagine a situation where two people are looking in the same direction; one of them only sees what is near at hand but the other, because he has a telescope, can see what is taking place in the distance. The person without the telescope is like an unbeliever; the person with the telescope is like a believer.

The faith of this person is said to be the ‘assurance’ of things hoped for.  The idea behind this word is that faith makes its object so real that I live my life according to it. The word was used in the ancient world for ‘title deeds’ to property. A person holding the title deeds to a property adjusts his life in line with what it says. Similarly, if I believe that a policeman is round the corner with a radar gun, my faith will make me keep the speed limit. If a student believes that a prize is given for the best mark, his faith makes him study more. Applied in a spiritual way, my faith in certain future events causes me to live in a certain way today.

Believers see those things because of the promises of God, especially in relation to Jesus Christ. They feed their souls on these promises and discover that they can affect them now, even if they are mainly concerned with future events. Sometimes, the promises convey to God’s people a foretaste, as it were, of the full reality they will one day experience. This happens because the Holy Spirit is within them as the firstfruits of what they will receive one day from God in its fullness.

What are some of the future events that a believer can see? For example, he can see his death. I don’t mean that he knows when he will die, rather he realises that he will die one day. He also knows why he will die. Death will happen because we are sinners. It is a sign already of God’s judgement and it leads to further judgement – it is appointed unto men once to die and after death the judgment. Therefore, the believer is a person who has made preparation for the future event of his death. He did this by committing his soul to Jesus Christ. He listened to the gospel and its contents caused him to re-evaluate his life purposes. The information it gives about the person and work of Jesus Christ enables him to prepare for death.

Another future event that the telescope of faith brings to the perspective of the believer is the Day of Judgement. It tells him that there is yet to be a day when all will be revealed. On that day, every thought, word and action will be judged and appropriate sentences will be given. The reality of this future judgement stops him from saying or doing many things. While there will be degrees of punishment, the least punishment is more than we can imagine. Every sin deserves God’s wrath and curse both in this life and in the life to come. The prospect of answering to Jesus Christ, the Judge, for all one’s sinful ways fills faith with a sense of fear. The man of faith wants to be pronounced forgiven on that great Day, therefore he goes to Christ now for pardon.

A third event that the telescope of faith brings to a believer’s understanding of the future is the reality of the new heavens and new earth. For him, heaven is not only the place where he hopes to be at the end. Instead, he lives his life now knowing that in heaven there is a great reward promised to those who remain loyal to Christ. The knowledge of future bliss helps him undergo trials, endure opposition, and put a true value on earthly things. And he anticipates receiving from Jesus the future inheritance that has been promised.

Of course, there are promises connected to the spiritual life that enable believers to have assurance about what they hope for while on earth. Yet it is the case that inevitably those experiences differ between believers whereas the events just listed will involve every Christian. They have to anticipate them by faith.

2. Faith enables us to see the invisible God

Linked to these exercises of faith is the attitude of hope or confidence regarding invisible things. Hope here is not a vague optimism but a confident expectation that God will do what he has promised. This means that a believer must understand God’s character sufficiently so to cause him to believe what he has promised. We do not believe a promise because of its great content but because of the character and resources of the person who makes it.

When the author refers to things not seen, he is likely referring to the spiritual world. He could mean the things that have not yet appeared, but I think he is referring to God’s invisible kingdom as it currently is. After all, every believer is evidence that such a reality exists. The best place to look for what the writer means by the evidence of things not seen is to look and see if he has mentioned the idea elsewhere. In verse 27, he says of Moses that he ‘endured, as seeing him who is invisible.’ Moses did what he did because he had his eyes on God, which means that he knew what God was like.

Obviously the character of God is too big a subject to consider in one sermon. Yet we can consider briefly some aspects of his character in order to help us assess whether or not we have faith in him. What does a believer see about God? Let us briefly reflect on some aspects of God’s character.

First, God is fearful in his holiness; this is how the Bible depicts him. Holiness is another word for perfection, although it stresses that such perfection is exalted above all other kinds of ideal standards. There are no flaws in God, nor are there any failed traits in his character. He never has approved of anything that is against his standards and he never will. In comparison to him the best of humans are grossly imperfect. Because he is holy, he will judge all who are guilty of unholiness. That is why he is fearful.

Second, the Bible reveals that God is fervent in his love towards sinners. His great love is revealed in the historical event of the giving of his Son to suffer on the cross in the place of of sinners, so bearing the judgement of God. And he loves his people with an endless love and had predetermined to display his love for them forever.

Third, the Bible reveals that God forgives our sins when we ask him for mercy, when we commit ourselves into his care. No matter what these sins are, he will forgive us if we repent of them and ask for pardon. Sometimes we might start to take this great blessing for granted, and if we find ourselves doing so, we should repent of such an outlook.

Fourth, the Bible reveals that God is faithful to his promises, that there is not one he forgets to keep. As far as salvation is concerned, he will ensure that all who trust him, despite their earthly experiences, will get safely to heaven. It will be marvellous to look back at the end of our lives and see how the Lord kept all the promises he had made to his people.

Fifth, God is a father to his children. When we believe in Jesus we become members of God’s family, adopted as his sons. The Holy Spirit indwells us and creates longing for the final family gathering in the Father’s house at the end of the current stage in human history.

A Christian, one with faith in God, says that God is all of these things. Because God is all of these things the believer can face the various future events that we considered earlier. So when he reads about what happened to the believers mentioned in this chapter he can deduce that it is possible for him to live by faith as well.